Playing Soldiers
by Sable Supernova
Summary: Tobias had made it through one war. He'd fought, he'd made difficult choices and he'd watched people die. Now, someone in a country a long way away wanted him to help with another. Crossover. AU. Oneshot.


Written for the Quidditch League, for Wigtown Wanderers. Seeker.

So my prompt was Crossover and I don't write crossover and this was a Seeker story so I had to write it quickly, and because I'd just read Divergent, I took that story to crossover with and I don't know how successful I was, but here goes! Not timeline compliant (because Divergent doesn't really have a year it happens in, so I picked my favourite).

* * *

 **Playing Soldiers**

Tobias wasn't Divergent. The identity he'd claimed as his own didn't apply to him. The one thing he'd given himself to hold onto, the one box he'd fallen into and succeeded in – it just wasn't true. He didn't know there were other options. His whole life had been lived cut off from the rest of civilisation, civilisation he didn't know existed, and now he was learning the world anew, at twenty four. The darkness left behind by Tris's absence was lifting, and sunlight pushed in around the edges of his vision.

He'd learned all there was to know about Chicago, both old and new. He'd walked the hallways, he knew the people. It was time for him to learn something new.

That was how he found himself on a boat to the United Kingdom. There was more to this world left to discover, more injustices to fight. He didn't admit it out loud, but fighting was one of the only things he knew he was good at, and if fighting could help people, then a part of him could believe he was working in Tris's honour.

But the news from the United Kingdom was unclear and disjointed. It seemed a war had ended just before he was born, but it was a war most of the country knew nothing about. A secret war, played out in places hidden from the general public. The casualties were put down to freak accidents and criminals, not soldiers. Tobias had to learn more.

He had a meeting set up for him with a man named Albus. He was the son of a war hero, they'd told him, and he was eighteen. They'd spoken briefly, and it became clear that the war was brewing once more. The fight was not yet over. There were people still clinging to the old ideals.

They'd called out to Tobias, to people like him, for help in defeating the enemy. Tobias wasn't sure what they meant when they'd said 'people like you'. He wasn't sure yet if he shared their enemy. He didn't know enough, and that was why he was going. If he was going to help someone, he had to know he was helping the right people.

Tobias was getting more and more uncomfortable. Something wasn't right with the world he'd been brought into, and he was desperate to work out what that was. He was waiting for Albus in a wooden office. The walls were boarded with beech; the table and chairs were mahogany; the sideboard and cabinet were oak. He'd arrived through a telephone booth. He'd never seen one before, but he knew they were fairly common. But they weren't supposed to move. They'd said he was in the Ministry, and that in itself made Tobias uncomfortable. The Ministry of what, exactly?

He didn't know. They didn't tell him. That made him uncomfortable.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," a young man with black hair said when he entered the room. He was wearing a long cloak in Dauntless black. Tobias shoved that thought away. Even here, so far away, he couldn't escape his old life.

"No worries," Tobias said, but of course he was worried. He was worried about a lot of things, but most importantly he was worried why he was even there.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you much before now. We don't often tell people like you, well, anything. But we're desperate now." Albus sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I must warn you, what I'm about to tell you could shake the foundations of all you believe in."

Albus looked at him with such gravity that it took all Tobias had not to laugh. "Yeah? Been there, done that."

"Okay," Albus replied, an eyebrow raised. "It starts with magic." He paused to allow Tobias time to let the words sink in.

"Magic?" Tobias asked, unconvinced.

"Yes, magic. Magic is real. Get your head around that and we can start talking."

Tobias sat there for a few moments. How was he supposed to just get his head around that? Albus said it as though he'd commented on the weather, but it was so much more than that. How long would Jeanine have lasted in power if magic had been around to put a stop to her? Tobias pushed the thought aside, because with it came another consideration. If magic was real, and it had been around to help them, Tris might still be alive. He shook his head.

"I can't get my head around that without explanations," Tobias admitted. "Keep talking."

And Albus did. He used words Tobias didn't really understand, spoke at a pace he struggled to keep up with, but he made himself clear enough.

"So, you want me to help just because I've helped overthrow corrupt ideals of birth right and privilege once before?" Tobias asked, working the subject down to its bare facts.

"In a nutshell."

This time, Tobias didn't hold back the laughter. "The circumstances are different. The rules of the game are different. Do you know how we stopped it in Chicago? We wiped the memories of the corrupt and my mother chose me, her son, over her beliefs. Countless people died. When you're able to convince me you're willing to play with those kind of odds, let me know."

Tobias began to stand. This whole place, this situation, was ridiculous. This wasn't a war; this was playing soldiers. They didn't have a clue, and Tobias wanted out. They could solve this on their own, or they could step up and face the hard truths. War was hard. People died. Choosing the right path meant letting people die a lot of the time. Albus needed to drop his ideologies, his fear of hurting anyone, and step up to the task.

"You might be a wizard, you know," Albus told him.

"Yeah, right," Tobias snorted.

"I'm being serious. I've read about you. We didn't know you even existed before. Now we do, I've read about you, and I think it would explain a few things. Your resistance to the simulations, for one." Albus sighed again. Tobias wondered if he knew he acted like a middle-aged Erudite. He also wondered if he cared. "As for your arguments, Tobias, that's why we asked you to come here. We are ready. Now is the time. This war has been going on for far too long, and we need to put a stop to it once and for all. We'll do whatever it takes."

Tobias saw the honesty in Albus's eyes, and allowed himself to entertain the thought for a moment. What if he was a wizard? What if he could save a few lives here? It could be somewhere he felt he belong, somewhere he could help people. Somewhere he could start afresh, away from the misery of his old life.

It could be exactly what he needed.

"If you say so," Tobias told him. "Fine. Let me find out what I need to know and I'll tell you what I think you should do."

"Thank you," Albus said, letting himself smile. Tobias nodded, but he felt his own lips tugging at the corners too. He knew how to fight. He needed a purpose. Maybe this was it.


End file.
